The Texas Rangers are in first place in the A.L. West with a 53-32 record, which has them 7.5 games over the Houston Astros. Due to injuries to Derek Holland, Yu Darvish and Colby Lewis, the Rangers have been running Nick Martinez and Chi Chi Gonzalez out to bump at the back end of the rotation. That is not going to get it done. The Rangers might have to deal someone that they don’t want to move (LewisBrinson, Jurickson Profar or Joey Gallo), but they should as long as they get a pitcher under contract for a few more years. That likely means dealing with the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays have lefty Matt Moore and righty Jake Odorizzi, who both fit that description. The Rays are asking for at least one of the trio mentioned before in any deal for either Moore or Odorizzi. The only other pitcher that fits the description that I would be looking for is righty Sonny Gray from the A’s. Not so sure that they would be open to dealing him within the division, but it would be worth a try. The next tier would be guys like Ivan Nova, C.C. Sabathia, Ervin Santana, Matt Shoemaker, Jeremy Hellickson, Andrew Cashner, Drew Smyly or Hector Santiago. The Rangers need to deal for at least one starting pitcher and maybe two. I think the Rays match up the best with the Rangers.

I think the Rangers only really have two holes that need addressed at the trade deadline. First off, they could use a righty swinging outfielder to platoon with David Murphy in LF, and they should be able to find one of them without giving up a top prospect. I would probably prefer Chris Denorifa of the Padres….but I would also consider dealing for Justin Ruggiano (Marlins), Jason Bay (Mariners) and Chris Heisey (Reds). But when aiming to pick up a starting pitcher, I would go big. Matt Garza, Yovani Gallardo and Bud Norris would be my top three targets. Garza is only signed for the rest of this season, but he’s by far pitching the best of this trio. I would probably still aim for Garza, but Gallardo is just as good and they could keep him for a while longer. That being said, the price tag on Gallardo is probably higher due to his contract.

The Texas Rangers need to add a couple of things before the July trade deadline. They could really use a righty swinging LF to platoon with David Murphy in LF. Delmon Young (Phillies), John Mayberry (Phillies), Marlon Byrd (Mets), Jose Tabata (Pirates) and Scott Hairston (Cubs) all make sense. But, Justin Maxwell (Astros) and Justin Ruggiano (Marlins) might even make more sense as they can also handle playing CF. The Rangers could also use a starting pitcher with Ricky Nolasco (Marlins), Kyle Lohse (Brewers) and Matt Garza (Cubs) all making sense. I’m all about one stop shopping, and I think the Marlins would jump at an offer of Leury Garcia and Justin Grimm for Ricky Nolasco and Justin Ruggiano.

The Texas Rangers are after a #1 type of starting pitcher at the trade deadline. They are going to try to land Zack Greinke, James Shields, Josh Johnson or Matt Garza by July 31st. They are willing to trade top prospects, so they are likely to corral one of those pitchers. If they miss out on all of them, they would likely turn quickly to the second tier of starters including Francisco Liriano, Jason Vargas, Paul Maholm or Clayton Richard. The Rangers could also use another lefty for the pen. I have a feeling that they will be going after Jose Mijares, Manny Parra or Joe Thatcher. The Rangers are going to go all-in to attempt to make it to their 3rd World Series in a row and winning it this time around.

The Rangers are currently 47-29 on the season, which has them in first place in the A.L. West, 4.5 games ahead of the Angels. Due to injuries, the Rangers are likely on the hunt for starting pitching. They are said to have their eyes firmly on Zack Greinke if the Brewers start waving a white flag. But, if they miss out on him, they will likely turn their eyes to Matt Garza, Ryan Dempster, Wandy Rodriguez, Clayton Richard, Jason Vargas and maybe even Francisco Liriano. If the Rangers deal with the Padres (for Richard), they will also likely ask about lefty reliever Joe Thatcher, as that has also become a need for them. They will also likely kick the tires on lefty reliever Brian Fuentes of the A’s. They can’t afford to just stand pat.

The Texas Rangers could really use a lockdown lefty reliever in the pen. Sure, rookie Robbie Ross has been impressive so far this year, but the Rangers could use a second lefty in the pen. The Oakland A’s could be enticed to deal Brian Fuentes to the Rangers if Texas is willing to give up outfielder Joey Butler. This is a deal the Rangers would have to make, providing that the A’s picked up a nice chunk of Fuentes’ salary. This would truly be a deal that would help both teams.

The Texans Rangers are probably going to lose C.J. Wilson. If they do, they will likely move Neftali Feliz out of his closer’s job and into the rotation. With that in mind, here are the three guys I would sign if I were running the Rangers:

1. Ryan Madson – Ryan Madson really was outstanding as the full-time closer for the Phillies last year. He the kind of shutdown closer that would open the door for Feliz to join the rotation.

2. George Sherrill – The Rangers want to bring back Darren Oliver, but if he leaves, George Sherrill would be a pretty good fit for the Rangers.

3. Adam Kennedy – The Rangers could use the very versatile Adam Kennedy as he can play anywhere in the infield and he would be a huge improvement over Andres Blanco in 2012.

The Rangers are going to be on the hunt for an outfielder (preferably a CF), a backup infielder and a righty reliever before next Sunday’s trade deadline. Taylor Teagarden, Chris Davis, Craig Gentry, Julio Borbon and Arthur Rhodes give the Rangers major league ready ammo to get deals done. Hunter Pence and Ryan Ludwick are likely on the Rangers’ radar with the idea of moving Josh Hamilton back to CF. I don’t think that’s they way the Rangers really want to go though. B.J. Upton, Melky Cabrera, Coco Crisp, Marlon Byrd, David DeJesus and Angel Pagan would allow Hamilton to stay in LF, as they are the best CF’s available this week. The Rangers also were interested in Carlos Beltran but he wants to stay in the National League. The Rangers are looking at guys like Jamey Carroll, Aaron Miles, Blake DeWitt , Mike Aviles and Angel Sanchez to help out the bench. Frank Francisco, Octavio Dotel, Jon Rauch, Jason Frasor, Koji Uehara, Grant Balfour, Kerry Wood and Matt Lindstrom are the kind of righty relievers the Rangers want to trade for. They are looking for a legit set-up man type that could close when Neftali Feliz needs a break. I think the Rangers are going to be a much better team on August 1st than they are right now and that should be scary to the rest of the American League going forward.

The Texas Rangers ought to make a bold move in an attempt to win the A.L. West again in 2011. If I were running the Rangers I would be calling up the New York Mets. I would offer up catcher Taylor Teagarden, centerfielder Julio Borbon, righty reliever Pedro Strop, lefty starter/reliever Michael Kirkman and rookie outfielder Josh Richmond to the Mets for switch-hitting RF Carlos Beltran, righty reliever Francisco Rodriguez and cash. The Mets would likely jump on a deal like this one as it would give them some building blocks for the future, while saving them some money. Neftali Feliz hasn’t been his best this year and K-Rod would give them an alternative to close games, although he would initially serve as a set-up man. Beltran would likely shift over to LF which would allow Josh Hamilton to move to CF. This kind of deal would give the Rangers the bost both hitting and pitching that they might need to win the division again in 2011.

The only real hole on the Rangers right now is the righty side of the bullpen. The Rangers will have a lot of options as far as deals go depending on how much they are willing to give up. The Rangers should be calling the Cubs right now about Kerry Wood as I think he would be a perfect fit as the set-up man to Neftali Feliz. Koji Uehara of the Orioles would also be a quality set-up man but he would cost more prospect wise than Wood would. They could always call the bullpen rich Blue Jays and enquire about Jon Rauch, Jason Frasor or Octavio Dotel. I think the Rangers are going to pull the trigger on more than one deal as Chris Davis and Taylor Teagarden have a lot of value.